Spring 2001 -- Vol. 18, No. 1

Life Sciences Consortium Helps Penn State Increase Commitment to Education, Research, and Training

Almost everything big was small once, so it should probably not be a surprise that one little idea has grown into a big boost for the life sciences at Penn State.  That idea was the Life Sciences Consortium and since it became a reality in 1996 it has helped educators and researchers at Penn State to bond and improve their work by encouraging collaboration, communication, and experimentation.

In fact, thanks to the Life Sciences Consortium, Penn State already has a jump on the "century of the life sciences" mentioned by President Graham Spanier during his State of the University Address.

Through a combination of academic options, educational and research energies, and technology, the consortium brings together seven of Penn State's colleges with faculty working in the life sciences.  Along with the Eberly College of Science, other colleges that comprise the group are: Medicine, Agricultural Sciences, Health and Human Development, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and Earth and Mineral Sciences.

"What we've done so far has been important and successful," said Nina Fedoroff, professor of biology, the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences, director of the Life Sciences Consortium, and director of the Penn State Biotechnology Institute.  "We've brought faculty members together, utilized technology, and helped change the atmosphere and encourage interaction."

Clearly, the blueprint for expanded research ties between Penn State campuses and interdisciplinary work already exists in the form of the consortium.  Specifically, each of the consortium's graduate programs includes faculty members from more than one Penn State location.  In addition, the programs provide flexibility for graduate students to take classes at various locations or benefit from the use of technology and participate in classes videoconferenced from one site to another.  With facilities at Univiersity Park, notably 108 Wartik Laboratory, such courses can become quite personal and productive.

 

"What we've done so far has been important and successful. We've brought faculty members together, utilized technology, and helped change the atmosphere and encourage interaction."   Nina Fedoroff, director of the Life Sciences Consortium

"In that room the distance just disappears," Fedoroff said.  "Plus, it provides so many options and so much flexibility.  When it's not in use for a class or seminar, individual students and faculty members can interact from the separate sites--and that makes things much more productive."
Even seemingly simple things such as faculty poster sessions have helped define the consortium's efforts.  Led by Fedoroff, the sessions, which alternate between Hershey and University Park, have become a regular activity.

"We call up a bunch of senior faculty, ask them to come present a poster--not to send a student--and come talk to their colleagues," Fedoroff said.  "It's gotten popular.  They set up their posters, have dinner, and exchange ideas.  The object is to get more people in touch with what others are doing."

Consortium resources also support an Innovative Biotechnology Research Fund, which provides seed money for projects, and some state-of-the-art shared research tools, including the Electron Microscope Facility, the Flow Cytometry Facility, the DNA Microarray Facility, and the Mass Spectrometry Facility.  With the consortium's successful track record and presidential support for even more collaboration and cooperation, faculty members in the Eberly College of Science enthusiastically ponder the options that might grow in the future.  Existing M.D./Ph.D. programs could expand, and a commitment to new facilities has already been made, with construction scheduled to begin on a chemistry building and a life sciences building at University Park next summer.

As a result of the Life Sciences Consortium's efforts, many important collaborative efforts are already under way and efforts to increase the connections with the College of Medicine, also mentioned in President Spanier's annual address, have captured the interest of faculty members.

"There's a health care side and an education side to something like that, and benefits exist on both sides," said Robert Mitchell, professor of biology and director of the undergraduate pre-med program at Penn State.  "As an administrator, you could imagine a residency training program.  As a community member, an affiliation might provide growth and improved services for the hospital itself."

Robert Schlegel, professor and head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, agrees.

"It could help the community, and it could help us in hiring because it would broaden the type of research we do," Schlegel said.  "Something such as that would be very exciting because it would impact research as well as teaching."

-- By Steve Sampsell

Back to Science Journal Spring 2001 Index

Penn State Home Page | Eberly College of Science | Find a Person | Locate a Building | Search | Site Index

Students | Alumni | Visitors | Researchers | Faculty and Staff | Postdoctoral Fellows | Corporate Interests
Academic Programs | Research | Dean"s Office | Development and Alumni Relations | News and Events | Directory

This page was last updated on 12 March 2001

If you would like to communicate with the keepers of the Eberly College of Science Web server, send electronic mail to: science-web@thunder.science.psu.edu
Technology Webmaster: Joseph K. Carlson < jkc3@psu.edu >
Content Webmaster: Barbara Kennedy < science@psu.edu >